I just bought a new Air 2, and after a day of messing around I'm ready to return it. It's just not possible to upgrade the firmware.

I did upgrade it once, in the app. But when I try to bind the controller to the drone, it claims that the firmware is outdated.
The app doesn't find any more updates, so nothing more to do that.

So I tried the DJI Assistant 2 application. That one doesn't even see the drone when I connect it to the PC.
NB! Please - no helpful answers about connecting the drone to a USB port, when and how to connect and turn it on etc. I'm a computer engineer.

No matter what I do, it won't see the drone. It only displays a message about how to connect Inspire 2, which has nothing to do with me at all.

And please - no suggestions about the drivers. The downloadable windows drivers from DJI are unsigned, and there is absolutely no way to install
them on any of my win10 machines, all of which are private and not restricted by anything other than MS. I've used the better part of a day to try
to disabled the unsigned drivers feature, and it simply cannot be done on my machines.

So, unless there is a way to solve this, I'm taking this 1000USD non-working thing back and getting a refund.

Anyone?

Also, possibly the firmware isn't outdated, and the error is with the app or system. If I try to search for firmware updates in the app, it alternates between "server error" and "firmware is up-to-date".

But the problem remains in any case: It's not possible to bind the drone to the controller because it claims that the firmware is out-of-date.

Seriously. I really thought the DJI drones were quality devices. But as of now, this is an expensive POS that's soon on it's way back to the store.

This might be a dumb question but are you using the Fly App?  The reason I ask is that the Inspire uses DJI Go 4 App.  The Fly App is not compatible with the Inspire so it shouldn't display a message about how to connect to Inspire 2.

Just trying to help and not make you any madder.  99% of DJI drones do work as advertised.  There is always a chance that you got a lemon and it will need to be returned for a replacement.

DowntownRDB Posted at 7-13 06:12
This might be a dumb question but are you using the Fly App?  The reason I ask is that the Inspire uses DJI Go 4 App.  The Fly App is not compatible with the Inspire so it shouldn't display a message about how to connect to Inspire 2.

Just trying to help and not make you any madder.  99% of DJI drones do work as advertised.  There is always a chance that you got a lemon and it will need to be returned for a replacement.

Thanks for the suggestion. I just spend a long while with online support. I had the wrong version of the application. WIth the right one, I was able to update the drone firmware. But for the controller firmware, I just get "unable to list firmware. please retry". On the phone app, I got a firmware update that stopped at 40% of installation. After that, I'm left with an updated drone and a controller that cannot be updated. I've tried the Consumer Drone version of the Assistant 2, as per another suggestion, with the same result (unable to list firmaware). In the phone app, I still get server error (-4). I'm going to check again tomorrow, before I return it to the store. I won't get a replacement, as the process of udating DJI drones seems to be more unstable than I'm willing to accept for this price range.

What's really annoying is that I'm now able to connect the drone and the controller in the app, and it's most likely ready for flight. But I still cannot bind the drone and controller, because it claims the firmware is outdated.

Update: As a last test before returning it, I borrowed an Android phone and installed the DJI Fly app on it (which, by the way, has to be downloaded as an APK package, since it's not on Google Play - why?). Then it worked!!!!! So, on two differenct Windows 10 computers, it did not work. On an iPhone 12 it did not work. But on an old Honor 8 phone, it worked.

Not sure how pleased I am. If I'm to continue with this, I'll have to search for (and test) a new phone every time there's a firmware update.

fans28f19dac Posted at 7-13 06:54
Thanks for the suggestion. I just spend a long while with online support. I had the wrong version of the application. WIth the right one, I was able to update the drone firmware. But for the controller firmware, I just get "unable to list firmware. please retry". On the phone app, I got a firmware update that stopped at 40% of installation. After that, I'm left with an updated drone and a controller that cannot be updated. I've tried the Consumer Drone version of the Assistant 2, as per another suggestion, with the same result (unable to list firmaware). In the phone app, I still get server error (-4). I'm going to check again tomorrow, before I return it to the store. I won't get a replacement, as the process of udating DJI drones seems to be more unstable than I'm willing to accept for this price range.

What's really annoying is that I'm now able to connect the drone and the controller in the app, and it's most likely ready for flight. But I still cannot bind the drone and controller, because it claims the firmware is outdated.

Sorry all your troubleshooting didn't resolve the issue.  I did have that happen one time when a new firmware update came out.  Fly App stopped at 88% and using Assistant 2 it stopped around 40%.  I tried 2 different Android phones and didn't update fully.  I even tried 2 different laptops (one Windows 10 and one Windows 11) and it didn't work.  Tried my old PC and still bombed at 40%.  Even tried it on two different high speed internets - no joy.  Finally gave up and sent drone in to DJI per support's direction.  Had replacement drone within 8 days.  That was a year ago and not one issue updating firmware on it since.  I've owned 5 DJI drones now and that was the only one that gave me fits to update firmware.

Best of luck on your decision to return or not.  

DowntownRDB Posted at 7-13 12:44
Sorry all your troubleshooting didn't resolve the issue.  I did have that happen one time when a new firmware update came out.  Fly App stopped at 88% and using Assistant 2 it stopped around 40%.  I tried 2 different Android phones and didn't update fully.  I even tried 2 different laptops (one Windows 10 and one Windows 11) and it didn't work.  Tried my old PC and still bombed at 40%.  Even tried it on two different high speed internets - no joy.  Finally gave up and sent drone in to DJI per support's direction.  Had replacement drone within 8 days.  That was a year ago and not one issue updating firmware on it since.  I've owned 5 DJI drones now and that was the only one that gave me fits to update firmware.

Best of luck on your decision to return or not.

Yeah, they seem to have both good support and other services, so I'm not sure I want to skip :-)

fans28f19dac Posted at 7-14 01:47
Yeah, they seem to have both good support and other services, so I'm not sure I want to skip :-)